Chapter 1 The dream that smelled like fire
The night didn’t fall. It descended — like a slow breath, heavy with meaning.
Lagos was still awake, restless as always, but somewhere in that noise, the veil between worlds thinned just enough for a girl named Loveth to dream.
She stood barefoot in a place that wasn’t earth but felt like it. The air smelled of smoke and something sweet — burnt sugar and rain. Shadows swayed like dancers. Her heart thudded to a rhythm she didn’t recognize, yet it felt older than her blood.
Then she felt it — him.
Not seen. Not heard.
Just felt.
It started deep in her chest — a hum that vibrated like a drum calling her name. The ground beneath her feet shimmered, and the warmth crawling up her spine wasn’t fear. It was something else. Something dangerous in its gentleness.
When she turned, she didn’t see a face. She saw a presence — still, dark, magnetic.
And when she opened her mouth, her voice didn’t sound like hers.
“You…” she breathed.
No answer came. But the space between her and the shadow flickered like candlelight in wind — bright, trembling, alive.
Then, a voice — not in her ear, but inside her chest.
> “You heard me.”
Loveth gasped, stumbling backward. The ground broke like glass, and she fell through — into light, into nothing.
---
She woke to darkness again — her own room this time. The fan was silent, power gone, Lagos night pressing against her window like a secret. Sweat glistened at her collarbone. The hum in her chest hadn’t stopped.
She whispered to no one, “Who are you?”
Silence.
Then, faintly, the smell of burnt sugar again.
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